A Nesquehoning councilwoman has made it her mission to lead the charge in the fight against blight.

Last week, Abbie Guardiani, who began the discussion as a resident last year because a burned out home behind her home was creating an eyesore, as well as a safety hazard, tackled what she called the beginning of the “Tour de Nesquehoning” in the fight to take back the community against blight.

She said that the blight committee met for the first time last month and it was a great meeting. The committee is made up of two council members as well as several community members.

“One of the first things we talked about was what’s your definition of blight,” she said.

The Webster dictionary definition of the word blight is “disrepair and decrepitude due to neglect or age, deteriorating condition that impairs the quality of life.”

Guardiani said that the blight committee’s goal isn’t to be the iron hand of the town regarding blight, but rather ambassadors for this town and to get people on board to “want to make your property nice.”

“Yes there are structures in this town that need to be taken care of immediately, if not sooner ... but you know, whether you’re a lifelong resident of this town or whether you moved in yesterday, it’s important for all of us to realize that we need to include everybody if we want to have our town nice. We need to get everybody on board.”

She outlined 10 properties that meet the definition of blight and discussed the process that is being taken, if anything, to rectify them.

One of those properties, located just across the street from the borough offices, was torn down last week. The double home was burned extensively earlier this year in a fire and the owners started demolition as part of the insurance settlement.

Guardiani urged people to not let their properties get to the point of disrepair, as the homes she outlined.

“Take care of your property. Cut your weeds. Take some pride in your home because that’s where blight starts by not taking care of your property,” she said.